If you ask people what they like about timber, and products made from wood, there are a number of adjectives that will be common: the warmth, the texture, the feeling that the item is real – it has density, weight, a solidness.

So it is also quite disturbing that something so seemingly solid can become translucent when it becomes thin. This characteristic has been used to great effect by designers and woodworkers over the years – even I have a few times (although not always deliberately!)